20 years of mass balances on the Piloto glacier, Las Cuevas river basin, Mendoza, Argentina

Climatic changes of the 20th century have altered the water cycle in the Andean basins of central Argentina. The most visible change is seen in the mountain glaciers, with loss of part of their mass due to decreasing thickness and a substantial recession in the last 100 years. This paper briefly describes the results of glacier mass balance research since 1979 in the Piloto Glacier at the Cajón del Rubio, in the headwaters of Las Cuevas River, presenting new results for the period 1997–2003. Very large interannual variability of net annual specific balance is evident, due largely to variations in winter snow accumulation, with a maximum net annual value of + 151 cm w.e. and a minimum value of - 230 cm w.e. Wet El Niño years are normally associated with positive net annual balances, while dry La Niña years generally result in negative balances. Within the 24-year period, 67% of the years show negative net annual specific balances, with a cumulative mass balance loss of - 10.50 m water equivalent (w.e.). Except for exceptions normally related to El Niño events, a general decreasing trend of winter snow accumulation is evident in the record, particularly after 1992, which has a strong effect in the overall negative mass balance values. The glacier contribution to Las Cuevas River runoff is analysed based on the Punta de Vacas River gauge station for a hypothetical year without snow precipitation (YWSP), when the snowmelt component is zero. Extremely dry years similar to a YWSP have occurred in 1968–1969, 1969–1970 and 1996–1997. The Punta de Vacas gauge station is located 62 km downstream from Piloto Glacier, and the basin contains 3.0% of uncovered glacier ice and 3.7% of debris-covered ice. The total glacier contribution to Las Cuevas River discharge is calculated as 82 ± 8% during extremely dry years. If glacier wastage continues at the present trend as observed during the last 2 decades, it will severely affect the water resources in the arid central Andes of Argentina.     

Analytic hierarchy process applied to landslide susceptibility mapping of the North Branch of Argentino Lake,Argentina

Natural Hazards - In the present study, we achieved the susceptibility mapping to slope instability processes by the implementation of Analytic Hierarchy Process and Weighted Linear Combination...     

Applying GNSS and DTM Technologies to Monitor the Ice Balance of the Horcones Inferior Glacier, Aconcagua Region, Argentina

This work provides results and analysis of the behavior in a reconstituted debris covered glacier, Horcones Inferior (HIG). This glacier is located at 32° 41′ S and 69° 57′ W in the Aconcagua region, Mendoza, Argentina. The HIG has experienced surges events in 1984 and 2003. GNSS techniques and Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) derived from ASTER optical imagery, were used to detect movements and altimetric changes of the HIG in the 2001–2012 period. Based on a GNSS semi - continuous station, N and E mean velocities of 0.9 cm/d and 1.1 cm/d and in U direction were 1.1 cm/d and 1.5 cm/d were obtained respectively in 2009–2010 period. Additionally, GNSS profiles showed a velocity range between 0.5 cm/d and 2.8 cm/d. Finally, through a DTM comparison the altimetric change before and after the last surge in 2003 was obtained. The applied techniques allowed accurate and reliable change detection of the HIG.